Center of Europe: Your Mind vs. the Geographic Center
A friend in Belarus recently told me that Belarus has the geographic center of Europe. I was shocked. I think of Belarus as an eastern European country, not a central European nation. In my mind, central Europe belongs to Hungary, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and sometimes Germany.
That got me thinking about what position Europe occupies in my mind and what “Europe” means. Where would you place the mental center of Europe? Think about your answer. I would say Germany.
Europe is as much a place as it is a history. In the past century of European history, Germany took center stage. In the world wars, Germany was the backbone of the Central Powers and the Axis Powers. In the post war period, the division of Germany led to the border between the NATO countries and the Warsaw Pact bloc. In recent history, Germany continues to play the central role in European politics, as it leads the EU.
So Germany is the mental center of Europe, but where does this leave other countries? What does this have to do with Belarus?
When I told my friends I would be living in Belarus, most asked me where Belarus was. One particular interaction with a Turkish friend of mine exemplifies these conversations.
Me: “I’ll be living in Belarus.”
Friend: “Oh nice. Belgium?”
Me: “No. Belarus.”
Friend: “Is that Brussels?” (We have gone from countries to cities)
Me: “Not quite. Belarus. It’s in Europe.”
Friend: “Oh I know where that is!” (I am not sure if this comment refers to Belarus or to Europe in general”)
I highlight this conversation because it shows that not many people think about Belarus. How can most people? No one can know everything or understand every country. Especially, not with the information age’s deluge of data. Belarus simply did not mean enough to my friend to warrant attention.
The real issue comes when we do not adjust for biased mental centers. Europe is not Germany. Belarus is one part of Europe that deserves enough attention for people to know where it is.
…
After waxing on the topic of Belarus’s geographic position vs. its mental position for some time, I decided to do a quick search for the geographic center of Europe before I wrote this story. Lo-and-behold, Belarus is one of several nations claiming the geographic center. Some countries make sense: Poland, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia. Others surprised me more than Belarus; Estonia claims the geographic center of Europe, if you include far-flung northern islands.
Based on the boundaries set, each nation came to a different conclusion.
Moral of the story: Everyone wants to be in the center.
